Lead On, O King Eternal

by Ernest W. Shurtleff, 1888

Lead on, O King eternal,The day of march has come;Henceforth in fields of conquestThy tents shall be our home.Through days of preparationThy grace has made us strong;And now, O King eternal,We lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King eternal,We follow, not with fears,For gladness breaks like morningWhere’er Thy face appears.Thy cross is lifted over us,We journey in its light;The crown awaits the conquest;Lead on, O God of might.

Almighty Lord, Whose Sovereign Right

by Evelyn R. Hassé, 1903

Almighty Lord, whose sovereign rightExtends o’er every nation,We bless Thee for the Gospel lightThat brought to us salvation.And unto Thee we raise our prayerFor all in darkness dwelling,That they with us Thy light may share,With us Thy praise be telling.

O, hear us as we call on TheeFor all the truth possessing;That they may ever ready beTo share the heavenly blessing.To send to earth’s remotest shoreThe gladdening Gospel story,That all the heathen may adoreJesus, the King of Glory.

As with Thine eyes, Lord, may we seeThe world in darkness lying;And may Thy love the motive beTo save the lost, the dying.The precious harvest waiting lies,But few the workers number—O Church of Christ! arise! arise!Arouse thee from thy slumber!

Lord, Lord, the impulse must be Thine,Forgive our sloth, our dullness;O quicken us with life divine,With all Thy Spirit’s fullness.So may our love and faith increase.Our fervor and devotion;To speed the messengers of peaceO’er every land and ocean.

There evermore be with them, Lord,And evermore befriend them;Be Thou their shield and great rewardTo succor and defend them.Prosper their faithful ministry,Till, in the day appointed,The kingdoms of the world shall beThe realm of Thine Anointed.

Saul's Armour

When first my soul enlistedMy Saviour’s foes to fight,Mistaken friends insistedI was not armed aright:So Saul advised DavidHe certainly would fail,Nor could his life be savedWithout a coat of mail.

But David, though he yieldedTo put the armour on,Soon found he could not wield it,And ventured forth with none.With only sling and pebble,He fought the fight of faith;The weapons seemed but feeble,Yet proved Goliath’s death.

Had I by him been guided,And quickly thrown awayThe armour men provided,I might have gained the day;But armed as they advised me,My expectations failed;My enemy surprised me,And had almost prevailed.

Furnished with books and notions,And arguments and pride,I practised all my motions,And Satan’s power defied:But soon perceived with trouble,That these would do no good;Iron to him is stubble, (a)And brass like rotten wood.

I triumphed at a distance,While he was out of sight;But faint was my resistance,When forced to join in fight:He broke my sword in shivers,And pierced my boasted shield;Laughed at my vain endeavours,And drove me from the field.

Satan will not be bravedBy such a worm as I;Then let me learn with David,To trust in the Most High;To plead the name of Jesus,And use the sling of prayer;Thus armed, when Satan sees us,He’ll tremble and despair.

How David, When by Sin Deceived by John Newton How David, when by sin deceived, From bad to worse went on! For when the Holy Spirit’s grieved, Our strength and guard are gone. His eye on Bathsheba once fixed, With poison filled his soul; He...

Ask what I shall give thee

by John NewtonOlney Hymns

If Solomon for wisdom prayed,The LORD before had made him wise;Else he another choice had made,And asked for what the worldlings prize.

Thus he invites his people still;He first instructs them how to choose,Then bids them ask whate'er they will,Assured that He will not refuse.

Queen of Sheba

by John NewtonOlney Hymns

From Sheba a distant reportOf Solomon’s glory and fame,Invited the queen to his court,But all was outdone when she came;She cried, with a pleasing surprise,When first she before him appeared,“How much, what I see with my eyes,Surpasses the rumour I heard!”

When once to Jerusalem come,The treasure and train she had brought,The wealth she possessed at home,No longer had place in her thought:His house, his attendants, his throne,All struck her with wonder and awe;The glory of Solomon shoneIn every object she saw.

But Solomon most she admired,Whose spirit conducted the whole;His wisdom which God had inspired,His bounty and greatness of soul;Of all the hard questions she put,A ready solution he showed;Exceeded her with and her suit,And more than she asked him bestowed.

Thus I, when the gospel proclaimedThe Saviour’s great name in my ears,The wisdom for which he is famed,The love which to sinners he bears;I longed, and I was not denied,That I in his presence might bow;I saw, and transported I cried,“A greater than Solomon Thou!”

My conscience no comfort could find,By doubt and hard questions opposed;But he restored peace to my mind,And answered each doubt I proposed:Beholding me poor and distressed,His bounty supplied all my wants;My prayer could have never expressedSo much as this Solomon grants.

I heard, and was slow to believe,But now with my eyes I beholdMuch more than my heart could conceive,Or language could ever have told:How happy thy servants must be,Who always before thee appear!Vouchsafe, Lord, this blessing to me,I find it is good to be here.